Bed and Breakfasts in Wexford Town, County Wexford
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Wexford (derived from Old Norse Veisafj?rðr (in some sources spelled "Waes Fiord") – veisa meaning "mudflat, stagnant pool", also Irish: Loch Garman, is the county town of County Wexford in Ireland. It is situated near the south-eastern tip of Ireland, close to Rosslare Europort. The town is connected to the capital Dublin via the N11 National Primary Route (European route E1), and the national rail network. Recently Wexford enjoyed a building boom resulting in new developments across the county and town.
History
Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney. According to a local legend, the town got its Irish name, Loch Garman, from a young man named Garman Garbh who was drowned on the mudflats at the mouth of the River Slaney by flood waters released by an enchantress. The resulting lake was thus named, Lake of Garman. The town was founded by the Vikings in about 800 AD. They named it Veisafj?rðr, inlet of the mud flats, and the name has changed only slightly into its present form. For about three hundred years it was a Viking town, a city state, largely independent and owing only token dues to the Irish kings of Leinster. However, in 1169 Wexford was besieged by Dermot MacMurrough Kavanagh, King of Leinster,and his Norman ally, Robert Fitzstephen. The Norse inhabitants resisted fiercely, until the Bishop of Ferns persuaded them to accept a settlement with Dermot. It is largely accepted that the Murphy Clan of Wexford descended from the King's brother. Wexford in the Middle Ages was an Old English settlement. An old dialect of English, known as Yola, was spoken uniquely in Wexford up until the 19th century.
By a disputed theory, Mary Seymour - daughter of Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley, and Catherine Parr, widow of Henry VIII of England - was removed in infancy to Wexford and raised under the care of a Protestant family there, the Harts, who had been engaged in piracy off the Irish coast under the protection of a "profit-sharing arrangement" with her father Thomas Seymour. County Wexford produced strong support for Confederate Ireland during the 1640s. A fleet of Confederate privateers was based in Wexford town, consisting of sailors from Flanders and Spain as well as local men. County Wexford was the centre of the 1798 rebellion against English rule. Redmond Square, near the railway station, commemorates the elder John Edward Redmond (1806-1865) who was Liberal MP for the city of Wexford. The inscription reads: "My heart is with the city of Wexford. Nothing can extinguish that love but the cold soil of the grave." His nephew William Archer Redmond (1825-1880) sat as an MP. in Isaac Butt's Home Rule Party between 1872 and 1880. The younger John Redmond, son of William Archer Redmond was a devoted follower of Charles Stewart Parnell and leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party till his death in April 1918. He is interred in the Redmond family vault, St. John's cemetery, Upr. St. John's St. It is kept in a very neglected condition by the Wexford Borough Corporation. Redmond Park was formally opened in 1931 as a memorial to Willie Redmond, the younger brother of John Redmond. He was also an Irish Parliamentary Party MP. and was killed in 1917 while serving with the 16th (Irish) Division on the Western Front during the Messines offensive, where he was buried. Willie Redmond had sat as a Parnellite MP. for Wexford from 1883-1885.
Wexford's success as a sea port declined in the twentieth century, because of the constantly changing sands of Wexford Harbour. By 1968 it had become unprofitable to keep dredging a channel from the harbour mouth to the quays in order to accommodate the larger ships of the era so the port closed. The port had been extremely important to local economy, with coal being a major import and agricultural machinery and grain being exported. The port is now used exclusively by mussel dredgers and pleasure craft. The woodenworks which fronted the quays and which were synonymous with Wexford were removed in the 1990s as part of an ambitious plan to claim the quay as an amenity for the town as well as retaining it as a commercially viable waterfront. Against all the odds, as well as bankruptcy of the contractor, the project was a success. In the early 20th Century, a new port was built, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) south, at Rosslare Harbour, now known as Rosslare Europort. This is a deepwater harbour unaffected by tides and currents. All major shipping now uses this port and Wexford port is used only by fishing boats and leisure vessels.
Modern Wexford
John F. Kennedy visiting the John Barry Memorial at Crescent Quay, Wexford town, Ireland - 27 June 1963.The town of Wexford closely follows the quays, which run in a northwest to southeast direction and are built upon re-claimed land. The main street runs more or less parallel to the river and is about a mile long from Redmond Square at the northwest end to Barrack Street at the southeast end. It starts as Selskar Street, then North Main Street from the junction with George's Street, runs into the square called the Bull Ring, then proceeds as South Main Street. Almost all the shops in Wexford lie along this one line, although new retail centres on the town's outskirts are now attracting the larger multiples. Wexford serves a large hinterland in South County Wexford, including townlands and villages such as Ballycogley and Castlebridge. Other important Wexford towns include Gorey, Enniscorthy and New Ross, the ancestral home of the Kennedy family whose members include JFK, Bobby Kennedy and senator Ted Kennedy. The scenic Bannow Drive, a short distance from Wexford, is popular with tourists. It's a signposted route through four Wexford villages including Duncormick, Cullenstown, Bannow and Wellingtonbridge.
A modern bridge connects Wexford town with the northern part of the county. It is one of the longest bridges in Ireland. Over the last decade, Wexford has witnessed some major developments such as the Key West centre on the Quays, the redevelopment of the Quayfront itself, Whites Hotel and the huge new residential development of Clonard Village, roughly 4km from the town centre. Recently, Tesco opened up a new store in the town, on the former site of the Pierce Foundry. The store is the supermarket chain's largest in Ireland outside Dublin.
Modern building developments in Wexford have not shirked from the architectural cutting edge, as attested to by buildings such as Whites Hotel, the new Theatre Royal (currently under construction) and the new headquarters of Wright's Insurance group. Developments currently in the pipeline include the development of a large new residential quarter at Carcur, a new river crossing at that point, the new town library, the refurbishment of Selskar Abbey and the controversial redevelopment of the former site of Wexford Electronix. Notable churches within the town include St Iberius, and Rowe Street with its distinctive spire, and the impressive St Peter's College, with a chapel designed by Augustus Welby Pugin.
Culture
Wexford town hosts the internationally recognised Opera Festival every autumn. Eoin Colfer, the author of the Artemis Fowl series of children's books, is from Wexford, and is sometimes seen in the Wexford Book Centre on Main Street, signing books or promoting children's literature. Singer and playwright Larry Kirwan of the Celtic-Rock band Black 47 is a native of Wexford. Similarly, award-winning novelist John Banville was born and educated there. The playwright Billy Roche hails from the town and has set all of his stage plays there. Actor Padraic Delaney also hails from the area.One of Wexfords most influential sons was Johnny Reck (1919–2004). A musician of note who gave a lot of young musicians a chance to cut their teeth in the Showband Era of the 1960s, amongst those who started out under Johnny were; Larry Kirwan (Black 47), Pierce Turner, Robbie Furlong and Billy Roche amongst others. An early example of the Mummers play is known from Wexford from about 1817. Arts Centre) which hosts exhibitions, theatre music and dance events since 1976 is situated in 1760's building where John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church spoke and praised the speaking facilities as the best he had visited and Percy French also performed here. Today various concerts are held in St Iberius's Church (Church of Ireland). The church, on Main Street, is over three hundred years old. Until about 150 years ago, the Yola language could be heard in Wexford, and a few words still remain in use. The present dialect is said to be similar to Andaluz, where the final edge of a word ceases to exist. The food of Wexford is also distinct from the rest of Ireland, due to the local cultivation of seafood, smoked cod being a token dish in the region.
Transport
Wexford railway station opened on 17 August 1874. The railway line from Dublin to Rosslare Harbour runs along the quayside south of the town.
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